International relations and national security remain hot topics in American politics, so it's no surprise that scholarship opportunities exist to foster new thinking and innovative ideas in such fields. Students interested in issues of national security, counterintelligence, and international affairs are invited to apply for this week's Scholarship of the Week, the Jim and Anna Hyonjoo Lint National Security Scholarship. This scholarship essay contest awards $1,000 to the student who writes the best original essay addressing an issue of importance to national security and related fields. In addition to the scholarship prize, winners will also see their essays published by the Lint Center.

Prize:

$1,000

Eligibility:

Applicants must be admitted to a university and must plan to enroll as undergraduate students or graduate students in the fall semester. The scholarship is open to students of any major who show an interest in national security, counterintelligence, or international affairs.

Deadline:

July 31, 2009

Required Material:

Completed scholarship application, including an application essay, personal statement, letter of recommendation, and official transcript.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

Want to get into college but don't have the best grades? Consider making friends with some prominent politicians, then apply in Illinois.

Earlier this month, The Chicago Tribune revealed the existence of a special admissions list at the University of Illinois main campus that consisted of politically connected applicants. Now, records from University of Illinois, Northern Illinois University and Southern Illinois University have been subpoenaed in the ongoing federal investigation of corruption charges against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Investigators want to determine whether Blagojevich recommended candidates for admission into state colleges in exchange for money or favors.

While going for the wow factor of a big name is an understandable strategy when it comes to letters of recommendation, it looks like more may have been going on with some applications in Illinois. There are concerns that some well-connected applicants received extreme advantages in admissions, in some cases getting in seemingly solely based on who they knew, even over the objections of the admissions officials reviewing their college applications. The University of Illinois has suspended its special admission list and claimed to have not followed practices out of line with what other colleges do in considering applications.

The practice of relying on political connections in the college application process is not unique to Illinois, but in light of recent scandals in the state, it is garnering a lot of attention. Using clout to get into college is still a highly contentious practice in any case, whether the applicant is connected to university officials or state government figures. Hopefully, this scandal will influence colleges to think twice before overlooking merit in favor of connections in future admissions decisions.

With President Obama's proposal to end the bank-based Federal Family Education Loan Program, there has been much speculation on what role would be left for banks in student loans, as well as which banks would be allowed to play that role. An announcement made yesterday by the Department of Education indicates that at least four banks will remain involved in federal student loans for the forseeable future.

The Department of Education has selected four companies to service loans made through the federal Direct Loans program. Sallie Mae, Nelnet, American Education Services/Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, and Great Lakes Education Loan Services will all be awarded contracts of five to ten years to manage the increasing volume of student loans the federal government owns.

The servicers selected will be responsible for the student loans currently in the Direct Loans system, as well as loans the federal government has purchased as part of the federal rescue plan. If all federal student loans are moved into Direct Loans, these agencies will also service them. For now, what this means for student borrowers is that you may be dealing with different people if you have questions about your Stafford loans next year. However, if Congress eliminates FFEL, this news could become more significant.

With unemployment continuing to rise, college savings funds still performing poorly, and some states being forced to make cuts to grant and scholarship programs, many students are likely to be facing a very different financial situation when it comes to paying for college in 2009, as opposed to 2008. Students who have experienced a significant change in their financial circumstances since completing the FAFSA, such as a loss of income and savings, can appeal to their college's financial aid office for a chance at more need-based college scholarships and grants.

Yesterday, U.S. News ran an excellent article by Kim Clark detailing the do's and don't's of appealing your student financial aid award, according to college financial aid administrators. According to Clark, appeals are up this year and are more likely to be granted, as administrators take into account how drastically the financial landscape has changed. If you are thinking of requesting a professional judgment appeal, here are some things you should do:

Send a letter detailing changes in your circumstances and why you need more aid.

Apply as early as possible. While many colleges are increasing financial aid offerings, much aid is still first come, first serve.

Write the letter yourself or have your parent write it if you are a dependent student and aren't comfortable doing it yourself.

Tell the truth and don't lie or embellish--if caught, you could be fined or even jailed.

For more tips, you can read the entire article here. If your circumstances have changed and you need more money for college, go beyond just requesting more aid from your school. Update your Scholarships.com profile and do a scholarship search, paying attention to any new need-based scholarships and grants that may come up. You could be eligible for more money than what is offered by your school, your state, and the federal government.

Did you think your high school's administrators were strict? Chances are they've got nothing on Suzanne Lukas, the superintendent of Bonny Eagle High School in Maine. During the school's graduation ceremony, a student pointed to his friends and blew a kiss to his mom when his name was called. Instead of shaking his hand and handing him his diploma, the superintendent told him to return to his seat empty handed. He still hasn't received his diploma.

The story's getting national media coverage as the student's family demands an apology and a diploma from the school's superintendent. While this story certainly appears to fall on the extreme end of things, it does serve as a good reminder to high school students to take school policy very seriously until you have that piece of paper in your hand and are literally out the door for the last time.

This has us curious, though. For those of you who have already finished high school: did you run into any incidents at your high school graduation where students' diplomas were withheld? What antics did you or your classmates get away with as high school seniors and as participants in your school's graduation ceremony?

Student financial aid programs in several states may soon fall victim to sweeping budget cuts necessitated by the recession. Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and California are all considering proposals to reduce or eliminate some state student aid programs, including popular grants and scholarships.

Ohio and Florida are both making slight changes to rules in existing aid programs, resulting in less aid for some students, but mostly leaving financial aid intact. Florida is capping their Bright Futures scholarship so it no longer covers all of students' tuition or tuition increases, while Ohio is changing rules in their Ohio College Opportunity Grant to focus aid towards tuition and fees at public schools.

California and Michigan, however, are making far more sweeping cuts. California has proposed eliminating CalGrants, a popular state grant program, for incoming college freshmen and cutting CalGrants for current college students. Michigan may eliminate the Michigan Promise scholarship and make sweeping cuts to several other state financial aid programs, including work-study. Students in both these states could find themselves suddenly thousands of dollars short on college financial aid.

While federal stimulus money has mitigated some of the damage in many states, in Michigan it has also played a large role in the proposed cuts to financial aid, according to The Detroit News. Since a provision in the stimulus legislation prevents states from drastically reducing funding to higher education institutions, Michigan may be forced to turn to cutting state grant and scholarship programs to make up some of their budget deficit.

While some state aid and loan forgiveness programs are being reduced or eliminated, financial aid is still available. Many college are actually increasing their budgets for university scholarships, and private foundations are still offering scholarship aid, as well. Federal student financial aid has also seen some increases in the last two years. Money is still out there if you know where to look, and a great place to start is doing a free college scholarship search.

There are scholarship opportunities out there for every talent, interest or skill. Through this week's Scholarship of the Week, the Calm-A-Sutra of Tea Scholarship Competition, you can win a $15,000 college scholarship just for demonstrating your knowledge of tea and your ability to drink it creatively. Students are asked to create a 1 to 2 minute video of themselves drinking black, green, white or oolong tea while describing the health benefits of tea and to upload the video to YouTube. Entries are judged on their health-related messges, creativity, individuality and popularity. No scholarship essays require

Prize:$15,000

Eligibility:

College and high school students age 16 and older who are legal residents of the United States and Puerto Rico.

Deadline:

August 2, 2009

Required Material:

A video of 1-2 minutes in length, showing you drinking tea in an unusual manner while explaining the health benefits of tea. Videos must be uploaded to YouTube then submitted to the Tea Council via their website.

Further details about the application process can be found by conducting a free college scholarship search on Scholarships.com. Once the search is completed, students eligible for this scholarship award will find it in their search results.

Early reports suggest that summer enrollment is up at colleges across the country, likely due at least in part to the recession. Since summer jobs are harder to find and some summer internships have also been taken off the table, more students are looking to summer classes as a way to stay productive between spring and fall semesters. Dwindling college funds and other economic difficulties may also be pushing students to try to finish college as quickly and cheaply as possible. Most state colleges and community colleges offer summer classes, as well as many private schools.

Summer classes are a great way to keep yourself on track for graduation, as well as to get required courses out of the way as quickly as possible. While more time might be spent in the classroom at once, summer terms are shorter than regular semesters, so that class you've been dreading won't seem to drag on quite as much. Summer classes often come with smaller class sizes and more support from the instructor, in addition to longer class times, so they can also be a good way to master subjects that might otherwise be a struggle.

One problem that comes with summer enrollment is finding financial aid, however. Often, schools award fewer summer scholarships and depending on the school's approach to summer aid awards, students may have already used up their federal aid for the academic year, or may have to reduce the amount they receive the following fall and spring in order to pay for summer. Some schools are working to make it easier to pay for school in the summer, though, as a piece in Inside Higher Ed reports. Several have instituted summer payment plans similar to those available during the regular academic year, while others are offering tuition discounts and summer scholarship awards. You may also be able to apply other college scholarships towards your summer tuition, or even still win scholarships this summer.

Aspiring chefs in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and other locations across the country recently received the chance to compete for a wide range of culinary arts scholarships through the Careers through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP), a non-profit organization that helps underserved students prepare for careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry. The annual C-CAP scholarship contest awards scholarships of up to the full amount of tuition at leading culinary schools to students who have participated in their programs.

A story in The Los Angeles Times followed students through the final round of the C-CAP competition, as well as the scholarship awards banquet, where nearly $590,000 was awarded, including several scholarships over $50,000. To be accepted into the C-CAP scholarship competition, students must be 21 or younger and enrolled in a culinary arts course at a C-CAP school, and must have completed at least one culinary arts course. Students complete a scholarship application that includes an essay component and two letters of recommendation. They then compete in a preliminary cooking competition. Winners advance to the finals, which include another cooking contest and a scholarship interview.

Culinary arts can lead to a fulfilling career, but programs can be expensive and it can be difficult to find enough financial aid. This and other culinary arts scholarships can help students follow their passion and enter careers in the restaurant and hospitality industry with minimal debt. To find out about the C-CAP scholarship, you can visit their website, and to find other culinary arts scholarships, you can do a free college scholarship search at Scholarships.com.

DeVry has announced that it will be awarding 500 scholarships to students attending its seven colleges: DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management, Ross University, Chamberlain College of Nursing, Apollo College, Western Career College, and Fanor. Scholarships will be awarded to adult students who are starting college or returning to college after an absence this fall. The announcement is timed to celebrate the addition of DeVry, Inc. to the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index this week.

The awards have been dubbed "stimulus scholarships" and will be targeted to displaced workers who are returning to school for retraining. To qualify, applicants must have lost their jobs in the last 12 months and who are starting a course at one of DeVry's schools. DeVry will begin accepting applications for the scholarship on July 1.

This scholarship adds to the list of options returning students have if they've been laid off from their jobs. A number of community colleges are offering local scholarships to displaced workers in their communities, in some cases waiving tuition entirely. Other colleges and scholarship providers are also ramping up financial aid for those affected by the economic downturn, as well. A free college scholarship search can help you find even more ways to pay for school.